Radiator Tank Static Hydraulic Flow Diverter

ABSTRACT

A radiator including a tank, an inlet port extending from the tank through which coolant is introduced into the tank, and a static fluid generator at a wall of the tank opposite to the inlet port. The static fluid generator is configured to generate a static fluid dome from coolant flowing into contact with the static fluid generator from the inlet port. Subsequent coolant flowing through the inlet port deflects off of the static fluid dome and is diverted throughout the tank and to a core of the radiator.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a radiator tank including a statichydraulic flow diverter.

BACKGROUND

This section provides background information related to the presentdisclosure, which is not necessarily prior art.

Radiators are commonly used to transfer heat from hot engine coolantflowing therethrough to air flowing across the radiator. While currentradiators are suitable for their intended use, they are subject toimprovement. The present disclosure provides for radiators havingnumerous advantages over existing radiators, as well as variousunexpected results as explained in detail herein and as one skilled inthe art will recognize.

SUMMARY

This section provides a general summary of the disclosure, and is not acomprehensive disclosure of its full scope or all of its features.

The present disclosure includes a radiator including a tank, an inletport extending from the tank through which coolant is introduced intothe tank, and a static fluid generator at a wall of the tank opposite tothe inlet port. The static fluid generator is configured to generate astatic fluid dome from coolant flowing into contact with the staticfluid generator from the inlet. Subsequent coolant flowing through theinlet deflects off of the static fluid dome and is diverted throughoutthe tank and to a core of the radiator.

The present disclosure further includes a radiator including a tank, aninlet port extending from the tank through which coolant is introducedinto the tank, and a static fluid generator at a wall of the tankopposite to the inlet port. The static fluid generator includes aconcave surface that is concave relative to the inlet port, a rimextending around at least a portion of the concave surface, and a slopedsurface extending from a side of the rim opposite to the concavesurface. The concave surface is configured to generate a static fluiddome from coolant flowing into contact with the concave surface from theinlet. Subsequent coolant flowing through the inlet deflects off of thestatic fluid dome and the sloped surface, and is diverted throughout thetank and to a core of the radiator.

Further areas of applicability will become apparent from the descriptionprovided herein. The description and specific examples in this summaryare intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended tolimit the scope of the present disclosure.

DRAWINGS

The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only ofselected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are notintended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a radiator in accordance with thepresent disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an inlet port of a tank of the radiator of FIG. 1,the tank including a static fluid generator;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the static fluid generator of FIGS. 2 and 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of another static fluid generator in accordancewith the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of an additional static fluid generator inaccordance with the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a plan view of yet another static fluid generator inaccordance with the present disclosure.

Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary radiator 10 including a core 12. Thecore 12 has a plurality of tubes extending between a first tank 20 and asecond tank 22. In the example illustrated, the first tank 20 is aninlet tank including an inlet port 24. The second tank 22 is an outlettank including an outlet port 26. Although the outlet port 26 isillustrated as being included with the second tank 22, in someapplications the outlet port 26 may be included with the first tank 20.

The radiator 10 is a heat exchanger that transfers thermal energybetween fluid circulated through the radiator 10 and the surroundingatmosphere. The radiator 10 may be configured for use in any suitableapplication, such as in a vehicle to cool engine coolant. The enginecoolant is introduced into the first tank 20 through the inlet port 24.From the first tank 20 the coolant flows through tubes of the core 12 tothe second tank 22. As the coolant flows through the core 12, heat istransferred from the coolant to the surrounding atmosphere to cool thecoolant. Coolant flows out of the second tank 22 through the outlet port26 back to the engine.

With additional reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the first tank 20 has a wall30 opposite to the inlet port 24. With current radiators, coolantflowing through the inlet port 24 abruptly impacts the wall 30, leadingto violent turbulence of the coolant. This turbulence undesirablyincreases pressure drop because the coolant molecules scatter indifferent directions from one another, and the coolant flow oftendevelops into a “tornado” swirling motion along a length L (see FIG. 1)of the first tank 20. The present disclosure advantageously includesstatic fluid generators 40A-40D, each of which reduces (or eliminates)such turbulence and the “tornado” effect.

The static fluid generator 40A of FIGS. 2-5 is at the wall 30 and isopposite to the inlet port 24. The static fluid generator 40A isconfigured to generate a static fluid dome 110 (see FIG. 5) from coolantflowing into contact with the static fluid generator 40A from the inletport 24. Subsequent coolant flowing through the inlet port 24 deflectsoff of the static fluid dome 110, and is diverted throughout the firsttank 20 to the core 12.

The static fluid generator 40A includes a concave surface 42A, which isconcave relative to the inlet port 24. A longitudinal axis Y of thestatic fluid generator 40A extends along a vertex V (see FIG. 5) of theconcave surface 42A. The longitudinal axis Y also extends along amaximum length of the static fluid generator 40A, which extendsperpendicular to a direction of coolant flow through the inlet port 24.The direction of coolant flow through the inlet port 24 is generallyalong an axis X extending through an axial center of the inlet port 24(see FIG. 3). The longitudinal axis Y of the static fluid generator 40Aalso extends perpendicular to a length L (see FIG. 1) of the first tank20. The axis X is generally aligned with the vertex V of the concavesurface 42A, and intersects the axis Y at a right angle (see FIGS. 3 and5). Coolant flowing along the axis X contacts the concave surface 42A ator near the vertex V, and flows up along the concave surface 42A to formthe static fluid dome 110.

With particular reference to FIG. 4, the static fluid generator 40Aincludes a rim 44A. The rim 44A has a first curved end 46A and a secondcurved end 48A, which is opposite to the first curved end 46A. Extendingbetween the first curved end 46A and the second curved end 48A is afirst linear side 50A and a second linear side 52A of the rim 44A. Anouter sloped surface 60A extends from a side of the rim 44A opposite tothe concave surface 42A. Coolant deflects off of the static fluid dome110 and the outer sloped surface 60A, which diverts coolant throughoutthe first tank 20.

With additional reference to FIG. 6, the static fluid generator inaccordance with the present disclosure is illustrated in anotherconfiguration at reference numeral 40B. The static fluid generator 40Bis similar to the static fluid generator 40A, except that the rim 44Bhas linear or planar ends 46B and 48B instead of the curved ends 46A and48A. The remaining portions of the static fluid generator 40B aresubstantially similar to, or the same as, the static fluid generator40A, and thus the similar/same features are illustrated in FIG. 6 usingthe same reference numerals, but with the suffix “B” instead of “A”. Thedescription of the common features included with the description of thestatic fluid generator 40A also applies to the static fluid generator40B.

With reference to FIG. 7, an additional static fluid generator inaccordance with the present disclosure is illustrated at referencenumeral 40C. The static fluid generator 40C includes a circular concavesurface 42C, which has a vertex V. The vertex V is aligned with the axisX extending through the axial center of the inlet port 24. The rim 44Cand the outer sloped surface 60C are also circular. Coolant entering thefirst tank 20 through the inlet port 24 contacts, and rides upwardalong, the circular concave surface 42C to form the static fluid dome110. Subsequent coolant flowing through the inlet port 24 contacts thestatic fluid dome 110 and the outer sloped surface 60C, which divertscoolant throughout the first tank 20.

FIG. 8 illustrates another static fluid generator in accordance with thepresent disclosure at reference numeral 40D. The static fluid generator40D includes a first concave surface 42D and a second concave surface42D′, which are spaced apart from one another and are on opposite sidesof the axis X extending through the axial center of the inlet port 24. Alongitudinal axis Y of the concave surface 42D extends parallel to alongitudinal axis Y′ of the concave surface 42D′. The longitudinal axisY extends along a maximum length, and a vertex of, the concave surface42D. Likewise, the longitudinal axis Y′ of the concave surface 42D′extends along a maximum length, and a vertex of, the concave surface42D′. A rim 44D extends about the first concave surface 42D, and has afirst curved end 46D and a second curved end 48D. First and secondlinear sides 50D and 52D of the rim 44D extend between the curved ends46D and 48D. Similarly, a rim 44D′ extends about the concave surface42D′. The rim 44D′ has curved ends 46D′ and 48D′. Linear sides 50D′ and52D′ extend between the curved ends 46D′ and 48D′. An outer slopedsurface 60D extends from a side of the rim 44D opposite to the concavesurface 42D, and an outer sloped surface 60D′ extends from a side of therim 44D′ opposite to the concave surface 42D′.

Coolant flowing into contact with the concave surface 42D generates thestatic fluid dome over the concave surface 42D, and coolant flowing intocontact with the concave surface 42D′ generates another static fluiddome over the concave surface 42D′. The static fluid domes at theconcave surfaces 42D and 42D′ are each similar to the static fluid dome110 of FIG. 5. Subsequent coolant flowing through the inlet port 24deflects off of the static fluid domes and the sloped surfaces 60D and60D′, and is diverted throughout the tank 20 with little or noturbulence, which reduces or eliminates any “tornado” effect.

The present disclosure provides numerous advantages over the art. Forexample, the static fluid generators 40A, 40B, 40C, and 40D create astatic fluid dome 110 (or two domes 110 in the case of static fluidgenerator 40D), which promotes a smooth transition for incoming coolantfrom the inlet port 24. The static fluid generators 40A-40D have nomoving parts and there is no potential for cavitation erosion to thefirst tank 20 because the incoming coolant contacts the static fluiddome 110 and the outer sloped surfaces 60A-60D, and does not initiallyimpact the wall 30. Instead, the incoming coolant impacts its own staticfluid, which creates a smooth transition for incoming coolant from theinlet port 24 into the first tank 20 to divert the coolant along thelength L of the first tank 20.

The static fluid generators 40A-40D advantageously reduce pressure dropas much as 1.2% at 200 liters per minute. Furthermore, the static fluidgenerators 40A-40D reduce or eliminate reverse coolant flow by reducingnegative pressure formations where the inlet port 24 meets the firsttank 20. Vortex formations often caused by random scatter andacceleration of coolant upon impact with the wall 30 are also reduceddue to the presence of the static fluid generators 40A-40D. Improvedflow distribution provides reduced maximum coolant velocities throughindividual tubes of the core 12, thus improving erosion durability. Inother words, the static fluid generators 40A-40D distribute coolant moreevenly along the length L of the first tank 20, which distributescoolant more evenly throughout the core 12.

The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided forpurposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or featuresof a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particularembodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be usedin a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described.The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to beregarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modificationsare intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.

Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will bethorough, and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled inthe art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples ofspecific components, devices, and methods, to provide a thoroughunderstanding of embodiments of the present disclosure. It will beapparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not beemployed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many differentforms and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of thedisclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes,well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are notdescribed in detail.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularexample embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As usedherein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” may be intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and“having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of statedfeatures, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, butdo not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features,integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groupsthereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described hereinare not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance inthe particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specificallyidentified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood thatadditional or alternative steps may be employed.

When an element or layer is referred to as being “on,” “engaged to,”“connected to,” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may bedirectly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element orlayer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast,when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engagedto,” “directly connected to,” or “directly coupled to” another elementor layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Otherwords used to describe the relationship between elements should beinterpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directlybetween,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein,the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more ofthe associated listed items.

Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein todescribe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections,these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should notbe limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguishone element, component, region, layer or section from another region,layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numericalterms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearlyindicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region,layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element,component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachingsof the example embodiments.

Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath,” “below,”“lower,” “above,” “upper,” and the like, may be used herein for ease ofdescription to describe one element or feature's relationship to anotherelement(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatiallyrelative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations ofthe device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depictedin the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turnedover, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements orfeatures would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features.Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation ofabove and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptorsused herein interpreted accordingly.

What is claimed is:
 1. A radiator comprising: a tank; an inlet portextending from the tank through which coolant is introduced into thetank; and a static fluid generator at a wall of the tank opposite to theinlet port, the static fluid generator configured to generate a staticfluid dome from coolant flowing into contact with the static fluidgenerator from the inlet port, subsequent coolant flowing through theinlet port deflects off of the static fluid dome and is divertedthroughout the tank and to a core of the radiator.
 2. The radiator ofclaim 1, wherein a maximum length of the static fluid generator extendsperpendicular to a direction of coolant flow into the tank through theinlet port.
 3. The radiator of claim 1, wherein a maximum length of thestatic fluid generator extends perpendicular to a maximum length of thetank.
 4. The radiator of claim 1, wherein the static fluid generatorincludes a concave surface that is concave relative to the inlet port.5. The radiator of claim 4, wherein the concave surface is circular. 6.The radiator of claim 4, wherein the concave surface is rectangular. 7.The radiator of claim 4, wherein the concave surface is defined by a rimhaving a first curved end, a second curved end opposite to the firstcurved end, and a pair of spaced apart linear sides extending betweenthe first curved end and the second curved end.
 8. The radiator of claim4, wherein: the concave surface is defined by a rim; and an outer slopedsurface extends from a side of the rim opposite to the concave surface.9. The radiator of claim 1, wherein a vertex of a concave surface of thestatic fluid generator is aligned with a longitudinal axis extendingthrough an axial center of the inlet port.
 10. The radiator of claim 1,wherein the static fluid generator includes a first concave surfacespaced apart from a second concave surface; and wherein a first axisextending along a first maximum length of the first concave surfaceextends parallel to a second axis extending along a second maximumlength of the second concave surface.
 11. A radiator comprising: a tank;an inlet port extending from the tank through which coolant isintroduced into the tank; and a static fluid generator at a wall of thetank opposite to the inlet port, the static fluid generator including: aconcave surface that is concave relative to the inlet port; a rimextending around at least a portion of the concave surface; and a slopedsurface extending from a side of the rim opposite to the concavesurface; wherein the concave surface is configured to generate a staticfluid dome from coolant flowing into contact with the concave surfacefrom the inlet port, subsequent coolant flowing through the inlet portdeflects off of the static fluid dome and the sloped surface, and isdiverted throughout the tank and to a core of the radiator.
 12. Theradiator of claim 11, wherein a maximum length of the static fluidgenerator extends perpendicular to a direction of coolant flow throughthe inlet port and into the tank.
 13. The radiator of claim 11, whereina maximum length of the static fluid generator extends perpendicular toa maximum length of the tank.
 14. The radiator of claim 11, wherein theconcave surface is circular.
 15. The radiator of claim 11, wherein theconcave surface is rectangular.
 16. The radiator of claim 11, whereinthe rim has a first curved end, a second curved end opposite to thefirst curved end, and a pair of spaced apart linear sides extendingbetween the first curved end and the second curved end.
 17. The radiatorof claim 11, wherein a vertex of the concave surface is aligned with alongitudinal axis extending through an axial center of the inlet port.18. The radiator of claim 11, wherein the concave surface is a firstconcave surface, the static fluid generator further including a secondconcave surface spaced apart from the first concave surface: and whereina first axis extending along a first maximum length of the first concavesurface extends parallel to a second axis extending along a secondmaximum length of the second concave surface.